Whoever would have thought that you could make a billion dollars by changing the way people approach their eyebrows? Perhaps only one person in history - Anastasia Soare. She was a humble aesthetician when she became fixated with other people's eyebrows, feeling that more could be done with them to enhance the beauty of a face. She took the bold step of launching her own eyebrow-focused cosmetic firm, 'Anastasia Beverly Hills.' The rest is history.
The company doesn't open stores under its own name - instead, it operates as a brand inside more established high-end fashion companies, and that mode of conducting business has seen it establish a presence in over two thousand such establishments worldwide. As the company's sole owner, all the profits come to Soare. So far, that's been more than $1bn. Famous names and faces such as Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford have all used Soare's products.
To insure one’s house, one’s car or to underwrite a life insurance policy, that is common practice. But who would pay an insurance premium for his/her thumb, legs or smile? Stars, of course.
At the top of the ranking are the legs of Mariah Carey, worth 810 million USD: The diva became, in 2006, the Gillette brand muse for the advertising campaign «Legs of a Goddess». She then took out an insurance policy with London Lloyds to protect her legs, a decision that is far from being insignificant. Among its customers, the London insurer then included several icons of music, such as Bob Dylan or Rod Stewart.
David Beckham’s body insured for 195 million USD: European champion with Manchester United in 1999, David Beckham was in 2006 the most renowned footballer of the planet. In relation to his sporting activities, he took out an insurance cover for his legs. The huge amount paid for his insurance would reportedly exceed the 103 million USD disbursed by Real Madrid for the cover of Christiano Ronaldo in 2009. The fashion model would later extend his insurance cover to his entire body.
15 million USD in insurance for Kim Kardashian’s curves: The curves of Kim Kardashian are her number one beauty asset. The reality TV star, who is crazy about plastic surgery, has underwritten an insurance policy worth 15 million USD to protect her famous butt.
The culinary critic Egon Ronay assured his taste buds: The famous Hungarian culinary critic has insured his taste buds since 1957, for the amount of 400 000 USD. An original insurance policy which allows him to cover his sense of taste without which he will no longer be able to practice his job.